Together
by no cure for crazy
Summary: As long as they worked together, they would get through this. Because that's what families did. Post 7x01, Driven.


AN: Because I've been writing to cope with that premiere and this is what happened, even if there are so many post driven fics out there already, I couldn't help but write one myself.

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Castle.

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><p>Together<p>

She paced the loft's living room in the moonlight seeping through the windows. She hadn't been able to sleep – even with Castle's return. The memoires of the past two months refused to leave her and let her mind rest.

She'd occupied herself with watching him sleep, but she could only stay still for so long. She felt restless, she needed to move and so she had made her way out of bed, careful not to wake him and walked towards the living room.

She ran a hand through her shortened locks as she walked around the coffee table and towards the window. She should be sleeping, but she couldn't let herself fall asleep. If she was being honest with herself, she felt scared.

None of it seemed real. There was a small part of her that assumed that this was all a dream. She was afraid that if she closed her eyes, he would disappear – that when she woke up, he wouldn't be there.

She sighed.

_He's alive. He's safe. He's not going anywhere. _

She'd repeated those words over and over again, trying to make herself believe it. She desperately wanted to believe those words. That he was telling that truth, that he really didn't remember what happened and that he wouldn't disappear again. In her heart, she knew that. But her head fought her constantly, filling her with doubt.

"Katherine," a familiar voice said, pulling her from her thoughts. "Couldn't sleep either?"

Kate slowly turned around to see Martha making her way down the steps. "No." Of course, she hadn't slept through the night in two months – none of them had. "I keep thinking that if I let myself fall asleep, I'll wake up and this will all have been a dream. That he won't be there in the morning."

"Oh, Katherine," Martha said, stepping closer and making a hand on Kate's shoulder. "He's not going anywhere."

_I wish that were true, _she thought. Because honestly none of them knew that he wouldn't disappear again. None of them what happened to him or where he went. Those words were a promise she couldn't keep.

Martha took a seat on the couch, pulling Kate along with her. "Richard loves you…he would never do anything to intentionally hurt you, or any of us for that matter."

Kate knew that in her heart, even if her head battled her on everything. She closed her eyes and took a breath before opening them again. "I know that in my heart but – I just feel like I'm in a conflicting place at the moment."

"We all need time to adjust, but we'll get there, eventually," Martha said, gently patting Kate on the knee.

"I feel like such a terrible person for ever doubting him," Kate said, eventually. It was true, she felt horrible about not trusting Castle. For not believing in him. In _them._

"Richard will never hold this against you," Martha replied.

Kate wouldn't blame him if he did, she probably deserved it. She couldn't believe that she'd lost hope in him, even if a little bit. Hell, even when he was being framed for murder and all evidence pointed towards him and that he was having an affair, she still believed in him. She never stopped believing in him then.

What was so different now?

_Because you know how easy it is to pretend you don't remember anything._

That little voice in the back of her head taunted her, always reminding her of the time after her shooting when she pretended not to remember anything.

She pushed the thoughts away. She didn't deserve him…she really didn't. Not know when she doubted his devotion to her. To them and their life together, because of some so called story the evidence said.

Wasn't it Castle who told her that there was always more to the story? That the evidence was only half of that story.

"I wouldn't blame him if he did," Kate said, eventually.

Martha took one of Kate's hands in her own. "The road ahead will be a painful one, I have no doubt about that, but I also know that we're strong enough to get through it. Together. Me, you, Richard and Alexis will get past this."

"Grams right, as long as we have each other, we can get over this little bump in the road."

The two women on the couch turned to see Alexis making her way into the living room and towards the couch. She took a seat on the other side of Kate and took Kate's free hand in her own.

"Everything's going to change again, isn't it?" Alexis asked after a while.

"I'm afraid so," Martha replied. "We can't just pretend that nothing's happened over the past two months."

"Hopefully things will get better when we finally figure out what happened," Kate said. "I'm not going to rest until I get answers for all of us."

Alexis leaned her head against Kate's shoulder. "Just don't work yourself too hard."

Kate wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulder, pulling her closer and Kate felt Martha do the same to her. A small smile appeared on Kate's lips. Even now, she was amazed at this little family she'd found herself a part of and she couldn't imagine how she came to deserve it.

Five years ago, she never would have thought she'd be here, in Castle's loft. With his family.

_Her_ family now, she told herself. This was her family too.

Despite the doubts, the stress, the tension. Martha was right, it wasn't going to be an easy journey, it was going to be a painful one. But she knew, as long as they worked together, they would get through this.

Because that's what families did. They helped each other through tough times.


End file.
